We compared the transduction efficiencies and tropisms of titer-matched recombinant adeno-associated viruses (rAAV) derived from serotypes 2 and 5 (rAAV-2 and rAAV-5, respectively) within the rat nigrostriatal system. The two serotypes (expressing enhanced green fluorescent protein [EGFP]) were delivered by stereotaxic surgery into the same animals but different hemispheres of the striatum (STR), the substantia nigra (SN), or the medial forebrain bundle (MFB). While both serotypes transduced neurons effectively within the STR, rAAV-5 resulted in a much larger EGFP-expressing area than did rAAV-2. However, neurons transduced with rAAV-2 vectors expressed higher levels of EGFP. Consistent with this result, EGFP-positive projections emanating from transduced striatal neurons covered a larger area of the SN pars reticulata (SNr) after striatal delivery of rAAV-5, but EGFP levels in fibers of the SNr were higher after striatal injection of rAAV-2. We also compared the potentials of the two vectors for retrograde transduction and found that striatal delivery of rAAV-5 resulted in significantly more transduced dopaminergic cell bodies within the SN pars compacta and ventral tegmental area. Similarly, EGFP-transduced striatal neurons were detected only after nigral delivery of rAAV-5. Furthermore, we demonstrate that after striatal AAV-5 vector delivery, the transduction profiles were stable for as long as 9 months. Finally, although we did not target the hippocampus directly, efficient and widespread transduction of hippocampal neurons was observed after delivery of rAAV-5, but not rAAV-2, into the MFB.With the exception of rare inherited mutations in specific genes that segregate with familial forms of Parkinson's disease (PD) (24,29,30,42), the molecular causes of PD remain unknown. Pathologically, PD is caused by the progressive degeneration of the dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc), which is accompanied by a corresponding decline of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the striatum (STR). As a consequence, PD patients present with resting tremor, bradykinesia, rigidity, and postural instability. Dopamine replacement therapy using L-dopa is the most frequent treatment for PD, but its beneficial effects wear off over time and severe side effects often occur. Surgical treatments such as pallidotomy, thalamotomy, or deep brain stimulation as well as cell transplantation therapies ameliorate some of the symptoms but do not inhibit ongoing neurodegeneration. With increasing knowledge about molecular mechanisms of neuron death (19), gene therapy may offer the potential to interfere with the pathophysiological mechanisms causing cell death in PD. Previous gene therapy studies in rodent and nonhuman primate models of PD assessed the protective potential of neurotrophic, antiapoptotic, antioxidative, and dopamine-restorative genes delivered by recombinant adenovirus (rAV) (8), lentivirus (28), herpes simplex virus (13), adeno-associated virus (rAAV) (22), or hybrid viral (9) vectors. Besides the cho...